BELAGAVI
While Goa’s Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant is keen on making Goa self-reliant for home grown vegetables and has stated that Goa would soon stop vegetable supplies from Belagavi region, vegetable traders feel such a move is neither practical nor desirable.
Sawant’s message has also not gone down well among the vegetable growing farmers and wholesale suppliers to Goa.
“Though we welcome Goa’s initiative to be self-reliant for vegetables and other items, it may not be practically possible as similar attempts by Goans have met with little success,” a leading trader said.
“To make Goa self-reliant on vegetables, groceries and dairy items may be a distant dream.”
While addressing a recent function on natural farming, Sawant said the Goa government would like to stop procurement of vegetables from Belagavi and North Karnataka region, stressing the need for Goa to be self-reliant in vegetable farming.
Based on the Goa CM’s directives, Goa State Horticulture Corporation (GSHC) is likely to stop purchasing vegetables from Belagavi to boost local production of vegetables in the coming days. Goan farmers are likely to benefit from it.
However, questions are being asked whether Goan farmers could produce the quality and quantity of vegetables to meet the commercial and retail requirement.
Since ages, Goans have been dependent on green vegetables grown in the naturally blessed farms of Belagavi’s hinterland.
Truckloads of vegetables are transported every day to Goa and the demand for Belagavi grown vegetables is rising gradually. This is because of the quality of the yield that can be grown under the favourable geographic conditions, which Belagavi region is blessed with.
Apart from major supplies to Goa, Belagavi wholesalers also supply vegetables to Sindhudurg and neighbouring Kolhapur district and Mumbai.
“We welcome the initiative by Goan farmers. However, due to climatic conditions, it may not be possible for Goan farmers to produce most vegetables grown in Belagavi region,” said Shrikant Pote, a leading wholesale supplier to Goa.
“Moreover, vegetables from Belagavi are in high demand from the regular vegetarian hotels to the five-star hotels, due to the freshness and the taste,” Pote said.
One of the major suppliers to GSHC said about 50 trucks from Belagavi region transport about 15 tonnes of vegetables every day to Goa. About 125 wholesale suppliers from Belagavi district supply vegetable to 1,300 agents at Goa, with a daily business of around Rs 5 crore.
According to official sources, about 700 tonnes of vegetables, 10-15 quintals of meat (mainly beef), a few quintals of flowers are sent daily from Belagavi region and Davangere.
Belagavi district also has pig farming and about one tonne of pork is also sent to Goa.
